A Very Good Girl

I really wanted to like this film and had high hopes as it was recommended by a friend.

Production, acting and cinematography was "Class A" but the writing, script and overall plot could have been more polished. I love how ambitious and different the premise was from the usual fare of Filipino cinema, but the film in many ways still fell into a cadence of plot devices typical of mainstream Filipino telenovelas and dramas- which disappointed me and had me itching to leave the theater towards the end.

Overall, while I appreciate how timely, witty and fun the overall experience was, I do not appreciate adding story elements for sheer shock value. It just felt like lazy writing to me. I have much hope though, for these two veteran actresses and the Filipino audience as a whole- if more stories that defied expectations were made, I would be a very happy critic.

I don't regularly watch chich flicks or even Tagalog films, so for me this was a fun change of pace. Which also means this movie is pretty good and well done. The editing is very modern for today's generation which has short attention spans. The acting by the 2 lead women is fantastic and most of the women characters are well developed. I won't say the film is anti-male, but they purposely made the few male characters into bad generic roles. Despite the long running time, the movie is fast paced and has a deep story that is both fun to watch and keeps you interested in the back story. You really get to know all the characters hearts and by the end you really want Philo to committ the ultimate sin before the the ultimate karma comes for Mother. This is a good movie, not your typical Filipino romance drama you see all the time.

They hyped this movie so much, you expected you'll see a good movie. Or at least an entertaining one. I wasn't entertained. Incredulity was the state of my mind while watching this. Too many inconsistencies. One user said it's contrived. I agree.

Actors needed some direction - some of them tended to over act. Though Dolly & Kathryn are OK. Was surprised Kathryn can act - from the love team Kathniel, I thought she'll give a lukewarm or a wimpy performance.

I will not pay 400 pesos to watch this in a moviehouse. I would like to support our movie industry but movies like this make me think twice.

And "Dito Ba?" at the end...???

No pun intended - and also no Shaft in this one. Though someone who seeks revenge and retribution for something that happened in the past. The evil character is almost a caricature - though her actions feel even worse at times (like staying alone in a room with someone who clearly hates you) ... and then there is the convenient ending ... but let's leave that aside (full circle it is supposed to be - but not as clever as it thinks it is ... is what Yoda would say).

All that said, if you like crime thrillers you might be satisfied .. maybe you even get surprised by a few things (whether that is positive or negative ... will be up to you) ... so just suspend your disbelief and dive into it ... don't mind the overacting either of course.

Story line was there, but the script looked rushed and unpolished. Is it really why the genre of this film is comedy because honestly i cant help but laugh at the ending.

I cant help but to feel sorry for the film because the scripwitting was too shallow too far from the expectation of having a Dolly de Leon in the cast which at first will make you think that this film would be as "Cannes Film Festival" caliber. Yeah, the production design was there, however the Miranda Prestley vibe that Peterssen Vargas want to acheive for Dolly fell short.

The only thing I guess I liked is the musical scoring which paid homage to classic Pinoy divas: Leah Navarro and Kuh Ledesma which added a bit of a depth in the attempt to level up the musicality.

Expectations... meh. Nice try though.